The Chartered Accountancy programme of the North-West University (NWU) is truly a force to be reckoned with. This after the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants (SAICA) released its Initial Test of Competence (ITC) results, in which the NWU’s class of 2021 achieved a remarkable 100% combined pass rate in the January and June 2022 ITC sittings. Of the limited number of candidates who passed with distinction, three hailed from the NWU.

“We are overjoyed at the results and we are exceptionally proud of our students,” says Professor Heleen Janse van Vuuren, director of the School of Accounting Sciences at the Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences of the NWU.

“At the School of Accounting Sciences we have a passion for young people and for the profession, and I believe the only way to make an impactful difference is through excellent education. Chartered Accountancy as a field of study takes perseverance, hard work and dedication, as it takes at least seven years to qualify. This profession shapes and forms you into an individual who can think critically, and that teaches you to apply your knowledge to improve the world and therefore the lives of everybody in it. We are proud to be able to play a role in shaping the future of our students and of our country.”

She added that the School of Accounting Sciences aims to continue to provide quality, well-rounded CAs to the industry, especially CAs from designated groups who are still very under-represented in the country.

“There is no bigger satisfaction than to follow the growth of our students from their first year until the day they qualify and to be a witness of their journey from being an uncertain first-year student to being a well-rounded, confident professional. I am privileged to be the director of a school whose staff members are very competent and driven and who share this passion for the profession and for young people and who want to make a difference for the greater good,” she said.